Jon Paul Allen has graced us with another Slingsby Hornets album. That means it’ll ooze glam guitar and thickly arranged melodic rock. Opening with pomp and majestic orchestral synths, “Way Of The World” is almost like Trevor Horn meets The Sneetches, with layers upon layers of jangle, upon a layer of dense rock guitars. Jon has dialed up the Brian May meter up to “11” here as those chiming guitars are front and center on the next track, “Rock N Roll Love Letter” and is the one of the best songs here. It’s dense and well suited to the slick production, so Queen fans will want to get this album for sure. The Hornets album still has plenty of covers, with the over-produced touch that makes T-Rex’s “Children of The Revolution” a lot of great fun, although Jon’s vocal gets buried here. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work as well with the ballads, “Flying Tonight” and the Cars-like “The Long Way Home” plods along and could use a lighter production touch. This is done much better with the heartfelt “This Song,” and the best cover here is the spacey “Suspension,” the theme from the old Buck Rogers TV show (Jon exposes his geek cred here)! What’s extra cool here is the bonus EP “Knee Deep In Glitter” – the songs here really shine, as Jon lets his Glam flag fly and does Abba’s “Does Your Mother Know” in the style of Sweet. The other tracks here are excellent, from strutting guitars on “My Coo Ca Choo” to the awesome slick version of Cliff Richard’s “Devil Woman.” With only 5 originals, the covers here make this 2 disc combo worth the wait.
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